WESTERLO — Westerlo residents can apply for a permit to hunt deer at the Alcove Reservoir during the 2021 hunting season, following an announcement from the City of Albany Department of Water that it will issue 100 permits to hunters who are from either Westerlo or Coeymans, or who work for the city. 

Last month, former Governor Andrew Cuomo signed bipartisan legislation that repealed a ban on hunting at the reservoir. The intent is to reduce the deer population because overgrazing is preventing the reservoir from acting as a carbon sink, which not only benefits the environment, but generates money for the city. 

Applications can be found at the city of Albany website, and will be accepted until Sept. 14, according to a press release from the Department of Water. It states that, if more than 100 people apply, permits will be issued by lottery on Sept. 16.

The Alcove Reservoir is the main source of drinking water for the city of Albany, and, in addition to preserving the reservoir’s ecological benefits, the culling of deer there will prevent the ecosystem from becoming an “ecological desert,” the release states, wherein native wildlife don’t have enough of the food they rely on. 

— Noah Zweifel